Journey to One Piece
by Vartdust
Summary: What if someone from Raftel sets out to sea? What kind of adventures await them? What is actually One Piece?
1. Prologue

This is my first time writing a fanfic and I know it might suck but I appreciate it if you give it a go. I highly suggest that you keep up to date with one piece (at least until the Big Mom arc). This fanfic is going to have its own plots, arcs and islands. It's going to be pretty long actually (like until Raftel long). But we'll see how it goes.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Eichiro Oda

"Ahhh, what a blistering hot day!" Raystia complained as she laid on the boat. The sun was on full blast that particular afternoon. Raystia's boat wasn't anything fancy but its small size and three-metre square sail were sufficient for one person. Besides, it was made from goldwood.

Raystia set sail from Raftel, her home, about a year ago. She wanted to see if she could befriend one of these 'pirates' and fulfill her dream. Her fantasies of friendly adventure-seeking fellows who went aarghh and ahoy were shattered when she encountered a pirate for herself. And that particular pirate just happened to be called Blackbeard.


	2. Chapter 1: Recruitment

"Heeeeeeyyy, anyone there?" Raystia called as loud as she could that even the currents started changing directions. Incredibly huge ships towered over her boat with an overwhelming presence. In addition to getting recruited, her stomach had been rumbling so it was a chance to also get some food. "Well, the bigger the ship, the better right?".

We'll see about that.

She paddled her way to the biggest ship with the Blackbeard flag tied to its mast. She found that the edge was at least 60 metres above her head.

She thought about what to do next. Jump? But she loved her boat and would be saddened to part with it. After much thinking, she took a rope and tied it around her waist professionally. The other end of the rope was tied to the hole that was centered on the tip of the bow. She made sure the mast, the sail and her backpack with all her supplies in it were fastened to her back securely. The combined weight of the boat and her supplies should be about a ton but that didn't matter at all to a Raftelian.

She ran up the towering ship, as a child of the chief of avillage, she had the insane capacity to do so. Raystia had been up training her body since she began how to speak and due to the insane training her father has put her through, running up the side of a wall was mere child's play.

"BZZZZTTTT!" The friction of her shoes against the hard wood of the Blackbeard flagship had been enough to generate a series of sparks.

She landed on the deck with a huge thump. The floor cracked at the impact of both her feet and the boat. "Well, that was not so bad." she thought.

"Who goes there?!" a coarse voice rumbled throughout the entire ship.

Before Raystia, the Blackbeard crew were sitting and drinking merrily on the main deck."Who the hell are you, brat?". The man who the voice belonged to wore a black coat over his burly, rather hairy body and his shirt was clumsily unbuttoned. He had a messy, gruffy black beard adorning his face. Everyone halted their merry mood and raised an eye of suspicion towards the unwanted visitor.

"Uh, are you people pirates by any chance?" she simply said. Though she encountered a few of them before, the group of odd, enigmatic characters before her made her assumed that they were instead a bunch of entertainers.

"Zehahahahhahahhh! Pirates she says! Of course we are, what else could we be then?"

"Oh I see... Then would you recruit me?" she asked rather positively, seeing all the food and drinks in front of her, she just couldn't help but be enticed.

"Yeah, sure, but uh *hic* have this apple, you look so hungry." Doc Q shuffled to her and handed her an oversized apple. Without thinking, she took a huge bite.

The rest of the crew laughed hysterically.

"ZEHAHAHAH! I haven't seen someone so stupid and careless before." Blackbeard exclaimed, his spit flying all over.

An imaginary question mark appeared over her head. "What's so funny?" she said. Raystia smugly made her way to the huge and flamboyant couch where the crew was sitting and occupied an empty spot. Almost everyone was dumbfounded. "Why aren't you dead yet?!" exclaimed Catarina Devon. In her eyes Raystia was just an annoying, rebellious teenager who ought to be thrown out the ship and who just happened to not die from the lethal poisoned apple Doc Q tricked her with.

"I see, you have a rather strong immunity to poison." Laffite said with his never-ending smile of his. "Admiral , let's hear her out before deciding how to deal with her."

"Hmph, fine. So what do yer want brat?" Blackbeard snorted. "Please recruit me." She tried again. Raystia stood and made a bow. She knew she had to be polite at times like these...at least.

"What makes you think I'll recruit ye? Yer looks ain't bad though, can ye fight? How did you come here anyway?"

"Ah right, before that, let me introduce myself first. My name's Raystia, I don't have much experience being a pirate. I do have some fighting skills and whatnot. My boat is made from Goldenwood so it's not a problem for these waters. I'm very good at cleaning by the way! And you are?"

The crew looked at each other again. Is this kid for real?

"Hooooiiii! Haven't you heard of the mighty Blackbeard pirates? HAHAAHHAAHAHAH!". A huge man donning a mask said rather very loudly.

"What an interesting kid, okay let's see... how about ye defeat one member of my crew and then I'll let you stay on this ship. But first let me introduce everybody. Is that okay? Or do ye prefer being thrown out of the ship along with yer peculiar puny boat? "

"Okay I'm in!" Raystia replied without hesitation, totally ignoring his remark of the Grace mini 1. It's a small bass boat which recently ran out fuel that made Raystia resort to canoeing it and depending on the strength of the wind using a sail.

"That's what I like to hear!"

Blackbeard exclaimed. He was having a meeting with his main crewmates but this brat just had to interfere but at least things got a little interesting.

"Hey, don't touch my stuff!"

Raystia yelled in protest as she noticed someone neared her belongings out of curiosity.

"This blue-haired bastard is Avalo Pizzaro, if you want to fight him go ahead though yer won't stand a chance! ZEHAHAHAH!"

"Hey the rest of yer bastards, go ahead and introduce yerselves, Imma go take a nap." Blackbeard made his way back to the couch and yawns loudly.

"Roger, admiral!" They said in unison.

So the entire crew presented themselves. It seems like this wasn't the only ship belonging to Blackbeard. There were others which were entrusted to the cunning Laffitte, the sophisticated Shiliew, and the rather loud and huge Burgess.

"How the heck did you get through the automatic security cannons brat? The logs attached to each side of the boat should have shot down any intruders instantly. Wait a second, how did you get up here anyway?" Shiliew attacked Raystia with questions that had been in his mind for quite a while.

"Alright alright, one at a time, jeez. I didn't know there was security system in place okay? Maybe it failed to detect me or something. You mentioned logs?" Raystia looked over the ship and realised for the first time there were humongous tree trunks attached to each side of the ship. The front of the ship didn't had any such attachments due to its curved nature. It also seemed that that there were metal covers which probably opened whenever the cannons are needed. Weird to have logs attached to a ship that was painted in midnight black professionally and it resulted in an unique and contrasting look. "Any more questions?" She said. "Do you possess a devil fruit ability?" Laffite said. Having no Devil fruit powers basically means 0% chance of survival unless you have some excellent haki or possess some crazy strong skills. Well, this is what it means to survive in the New World.

"Nope." She replied. She did possess something however, but had no reason to reveal it to anyone just yet.

When nobody was asking her anything more, Raystia sat and started to gnaw at her finger, a sign that she is in deep thought. She once again looked at her potential opponents. They were all much bigger than her 6ft/1.8 metres stature. The only exceptions were Laffite and Augur who despite being way taller than she was like everyone else, were much skinnier.

"*Yawn, have you decided who your opponent is gonna be, brat?" Catarina said, clearly growing impatient.

Well, having the options to fight someone whom she wishes is great considering this is the Blackbeard crew which is known for its merciless and notorious reputation. However, what Raystia does not know is that almost everyone used to be a prisoner from level 6 of Impel Down which in itself is a testament to how crazy strong everyone is.

"Hey, I've been wondering for a while but is that giant over there part of the crew as well?" She couldn't help but notice the towering giant peeking at what was going on from the shadows.

"That's Sanjuan Wolf, the biggest giant ever, you really haven't heard of us have you?" Laffitte said.

"Hmmmmm...I see." The presence of the giant does not surprise her as she had visited Elbaf a number of times during her childhood.

Raystia spend a few minutes in deep thought.

"Alright, I decided who I am going to fight against."

Everyone widened their eyes and became a little more alert.

Who is it going to be?

"You."

Raystia stands and points at the admiral himself, Blackbeard.


	3. Chapter 2: Stupidity (?)

(continued from chapter 1)

Ok this girl is definitely out of her mind. That's what everyone was thinking. Their eyes right now shot out of their sockets. "You absolute fool!" Catarina screamed.

Going up against Blackbeard. The man who became a yonko after doing some devastating things at the Marineford war. That also includes robbing Whitebeard of his devil fruit.

The man who now had an entire fleet of pirates which are under command of former level 6 prisoners of Impel Down.

"Eh w-whaaaatt?" Blackbeard woke up from his little nap due to the commotion. "What's going on here?"

"I have decided on who my opponent is going to be, it's you Mr um...uh...Mr Beard?"

"That's Blackbeard, though if you do beat me, I'll let ye call me by me real name, ZEHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

"At this moment, Raystia had absolutely no idea what she was getting herself into, looks this journey is going to end pretty quickly."

"Hmm, Laffitte? Stop that, you're creeping me out." Augur snapped.

"Sorry, I just got a little possessed by something call the "author"."

Augur simply made an expression like "the hell".

"Well, it's been quite long since anyone challenged me, so this will quite fun eh?" Blackbeard was clearly getting excited. Ever since he became a yonko and been appearing on on the front page of the newspaper, no one dared to opposed him.

Even the marines whom the fleet run into quite often tried their best to not get in their way unless they were in direct command under the main headquarters. Despite the potential of those marines, once they have beaten down those in the lowest class of the Blackbeard pirate fleet, they will face difficulty against the DF users.

"There's no way we are getting involved with those lot, unless we really desire death!" said a major to his subordinates during a rough encounter along the waters of Grace Island.

The number of resources the fleet were able to gather was copious. Previously, before establishing a fleet, they had to rob from bars and other fellow pirates. The tons of litres of alcohol his crew drank were half of that of the former Whitebeard pirates. Now it was all different, pirates trying to get them on their good side were all over the sea. This resulted in no shortage of food and water. As for the territories Whitebeard had protected, well...Blackbeard either exploited their resources or simply didn't care about them, turning a handful of them into lawless, chaotic places.

There was once when Blackbeard came upon Rig Island, which was known for its abundance in natural oils and gases.

Blackbeard then gave the citizens of the main city two choices: surrender or die. Cliché, but it did the trick. That was how he was able to fuel the massive ships he now had under his command.

"*Yawn, hey Burgess, bring out the fighting ring." Blackbeard still in his drowsiness state plainly said.

"Alright, admiraaaaalll!" Burgess moved towards the main mast nimbly. It was pretty amazing how he could move that fast with his huge body. Then he pulled on a lever that was attached to the the base of the main mast. A series of gears and machinery started churning and turning. The floor behind the mast collapsed and a rather impressive looking square area which was used for sparring revealed itself. The ring looked like it was brand new.

"Woah, so coooll!" Raystia exclaimed with stars appearing in her eyes. "What are we going to do with that?" She said. "Fight." Blackbeard replied. "The first one to knockout the other out of the ring wins, pretty simple right? ZEHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

"But uuuuhhhh..."

"Hmm, what is it brat?"

"It's too small isn't?"

"She might be right admiral." Shiliew nodded. "Maybe we could have the fight at a nearby Island, besides, who knows how much it would take to repair the ship if you decide to go all out...if the ship manages to remain that is."

"I disagree, why go so far for such a suspicious brat whom we don't even know anything about." Catherine said, clearly irritated.

"Oh, there's an island nearby, admiral." Luffite said, thanks to his ability, he can find out whether there are islands nearby or not.

"Tch."

"What do yer say, brat?" Blackbeard said, leaving the decision to Raystia.

"My name's Raystia, at least learn my name already, jeez. I think we should have the fight at an island too."

"You'll be quite surprised or rather shocked at our admiral's devil fruit powers." Avalo said, emphasizing on the plural of powers.

"Ok cool." Raystia replied brusquely.

Devil fruits. It was an object full of confusion and mystery surrounding them for someone such as her who had awaken rather recently from a few hundred years of slumber. Despite that, she had witness several wonders a little out of her imagination. She had a few déjà vu when witnessing people turning to wood, bring able to transform to weird animals and so on. However, she did not let that get to her. She was a free-going person who loves food above all else.

"So, I also get to eat all I want when I win right?" Her eyes brightened up.

"Hmmm..." Blackbeard started to ponder hard. It seemed that food is more precious to him than recruiting a stranger to his crew.

"Pleeeaaase?" Raystia pleaded.

"Fine then! We have a deal, but I'll go easy on you, I'll only use half my power." Blackbeard declared and glanced at his crew mates who all nodded agreement. They probably thought she wouldn't stand a chance even if the Yonko used half of his power.

After that, the crew went back to their usual activities.

Laffitte and Shiliew struck up a conversation with Raystia out of curiosity. She was a bit of an enigma even in the New World which is known for surprises and wonders.

"Where do you come from, Raystia-chan?" Laffitte asked.

"Won't tell you." She replied as she rested her head on the edge of the ship as she gazed across the wide, blue, beautiful ocean, filled with powerful waves and currents. A giant squid around 60 ft/20 metres long jumped out of the water only to be swallowed by a large whale-like creature with humongous, sharp teeth ten times the squid's size.

"So, where are we heading?"

"Ash island." Laffitte said as he pointed to an area not far from them dominated by dark grey clouds and ferocious looking waves.


	4. Chapter 3: Ash Island

So what's this Ash Island like you ask?

Well, to put it simply, it's a place devoid of life. No plants nor animals live there since the soil is poisonous and so are the rivers. The place is perfect for the Navy to use it for testing purposes.

But there have been rumors that criminals whose crimes are so great that they were executed there and all of their evidences of them ever living on this world are erased...

The main point is that anyone barely visits this hostile island.

As the Blackbeard fleet neared, Augur suggested that the ones involved in the fight and those who wish to witness it to take a small boat and reach the island.

Laffite offered Raystia to trust her belongings with him to which she agreed only upon the fact that he would prevent anyone from getting near them and that he wouldn't fiddle around with them as well.

Three crewmates accompanied Blackbeard and Raystia to the battlefield. Augur, Shiliew and Catarina. Augur brought some gas masks with him which led to Raystia raising an eyebrow out of confusion.

"What are those for?" She said.

"Well, you know the air is poisonous at the island except for the 'meadow'. So we'll be needing these to protect ourselves. As for Admiral Black, he just absorbs the air so there's no problem for him."

"Hmm, okay how poisonous is the air really?"

"Enough to knock out a healthy full grown man for half a day."

"Oh I see."

She wasn't concerned with all that though. She looked ahead at the direction of the island with only one thing in mind: food.

Whenever she goes to a new island, the first thing she does is look for different kinds of food to fill her unending appetite. Up till now, she witnessed countless unique, enigmatic creatures whose meat had entertained her taste buds in all sort of wondrous ways. The fact that she had these discoveries over only a few islands meant that there were way more delicacies, strange animals and plants out there only to fall victim to her voracious appetite. Little did she know that she was going to be very disappointed when she reaches the island.

As she thought endlessly about food, something was bothering her. Something about Augur said previously which she had no idea about.

"What's the 'meadow'?" She asked Augur.

Augur let out a simple sigh.

"The only place in the island which is free from the toxic air. It's a pretty even area and so it's pretty good place for a fight."

Silence overtook the small boat. Raystia clutched her special foldable spear that was attached to her waist. The crew let them have it, saying that she'll need against someone like Blackbeard. Of course, Blackbeard agreed haughtily.

She looked over the boat at the water which was slowly and gradually turning from blue to turquoise to green and then to purple with shades of red mixed in. It was getting harder to see through the sea as it shifted from clear to translucent to opaque.

What didn't change however was the presence of the sea creatures. There were weird unique fishes if you can still consider them to be. Horns on their heads, long teeth as sharp as daggers growing out of their mouths and their lengths as long as if not much longer than sea kings. Then, there were animals which looked like hybrids of two very different species. An example was a cross between a crocodile and a shark which looked absolutely nonsensical but at the same very menacing.

"Wow, this is like a buffet presenting itself!" Raystia thought as her mouth starts to drool.

Just as she was about to extend her hand, Augur placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't even think about it, they're very poisonous, you'll die." He said sternly.

"Okay, okay." She turned her face swiftly, clearly annoyed.

The rest of the journey proceeded in mostly silence.

After several minutes, the boat approached the shore. There was a thick fog surrounding it so it was difficult for anyone to make out how the island looked like from a distance.

Before getting off Augur distributed the masks and especially told Raystia not to take it off. Shiliew dragged the boat away and tied it to a nearby tree.

As Raystia looked at her surroundings, she cannot help but be surprised. The sand was black, the trees looked like they had been diseased and she cannot look past a few metres thanks to the thick fog.

Augur took the lead towards the 'meadow'. As they were walking, Blackbeard who had no protection whatsoever, walked merrily with his arms swaying.

It's been really boring ever since he became a Yonko since nobody wanted to mess with him. But now, it seems he is going have a little fun. It's just that hopefully this kid won't disappoint him.

After what seemed like an hour's worth of walking, the grouped finally reached an empty field.

This place was actually a sight to behold. During the walk, Raystia felt her stomach churn and twist about at the sight of rotting animal carcasses. They were actually live animals running about chased by other animals but the sight of them had her lose her appetite.

An example would be a cross between a wild boar and a skunk. She could even see the gases being produced from it's body which would definitely turn anyone's appetite down.

But the sight of the meadow was something extraordinary amongst this dead land.

Beautiful green grass, refreshing clean air, healthy tress everywhere. It may not be actually that impressive outside this island, but here, it was a mini paradise.

"Wow, just looked at this place!" Raystia said as she charged towards a tree that had delicious looking fruits. She plucked one out and looked at Augur for the okay sign. When he nodded his head she immediately sunk her teeth on its bright orange surface. The rush of juiciness flowed through her mouth, overwhelming her with a rich, sweet taste.

"Mmmm!"

"Hey, hey, looks like someone is forgetting our purpose here, eh?" Blackbeard said despite wolfing down five of those fruits.

"Oh right." Raystia said as she recalled her agreement with Blackbeard.

"So, what are the rules?" A rather serious expression formed on her face.

Things were about to get serious.

(omg so sorry it took so long for this chapter; if you were _actually waiting_ for it lol)


	5. Chapter 4: Just who?

"By the way, what are these fruits called?" Raystia asked with her mouth full.

"Yum." Augur replied sharply.

"HAHAHAHHA, what's with that name? Whoever came up with that name has some real creativity!" She laughed sarcastically.

"But it's very fitting isn't it?" Blackbeard said.

"Mmmm." She agreed.

"Alright, let's get this started." Shiliew clapped his hands.

Both of the opponents threw their seeds away and their eyes gleamed with the thought of the oncoming fight.

"Let's get at least 30 feet of distance between yourselves. Use of weapons is allowed. Try not to kill each other and use of devil powers is allowed. Yawn" Augur was clearly getting sleepy by his own monotonous, boring explanation of the rules.

"Well, try not to get yourself killed brat!" Catarina said, more like spitted.

After about 5 mins, the three spectators walked away towards the the forest to get the first row experience of the battle that was going to unveil itself.

"You start? Or I start?" Blackbeard said with an expression full of excitement.

"You start I guess?" Raystia replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Okay, zehahahh, BLACK HOOOLLLEE!" He screamed ecstatically.

At this roar, the ground shook violently, the sky looked like it was getting darker by the minute even though it was brightest it can ever be just a few moments before.

A violent shockwave burst itself throughout the air, sending all living things in close proximity to flee in danger for their lives. Well, all except one.

Raystia had activated her spear to its longest length and stuck it to the ground right at the time when Blackbeard made the first move. She was unfazed. So much so that she let out a rather rude yawn.

It was at that moment that a flood of pitch-dark shadow spread itself from where Blackbeard, swallowing everything in its path, leaving the earth bare.

Raystia raised an eyebrow before leaping out of its way.

"Zehahhahahahah! How do you like my Devil fruit ability: the Yami-Yami ability?!" Blackbeard laughed maniacally as if the battle was already won by him.

"Jeez, how troublesome." Raystia simply sighed. "It just sucks everything doesn't it?" She thought to herself as she wondered how to counter Blackbeard's attack.

"Maybe some Haki will do the trick?" She muttered under breath.

Her boots looked quite out of place with their metal construction and streaks of blue and gold on their sides and top respectively with a base colour of cloudy white.

But now, within a blink of an eye, they turned absolutely black with a little shimmer of blue emanating off them.

"Just gotta do this!" She shouted energetically as she dashed towards Blackbeard with incredible speed.

The pool of darkness put up no resistance against her. "Aaarggh!" Raystia screamed as she leaped up with her spear in hand, ready to strike Blackbeard.

Blackbeard's eyes widened momentarily but with a gentle raise of his hand, an arm of shadow rose from behind her and before she could do anything to evade the unexpected attack, she was send flying towards the ground with inhumane force.

"Zehahhahah! You have to try better than that!" Blackbeard let out a laugh without a care for Raystia.

A loud thud, then followed by a few cracks that probably was the result of bones cracking. Raystia spitted out several clots of blood. Her body was on fire, her instincts were persistently telling her that she was in danger.

Despite the fractures in her ribs and a split on her forehead, she tried to rise. Reckless, careless. She could easily score 10/10 for being both.

Just then, a rustle was heard behind between the bushes. Then the sound of hurried footsteps followed.

Raystia tried to pay it no heed as she saw Blackbeard approaching.

"Damn he is stronger than I thought. Guess that's to be expected of a Yonko."

???:"Then use me."

A voice, as sly as a thief and cold as ice rung in her brain.

"No." Raystia replied sternly. "Never, never ever."

The mysterious voice returned a rather hesitating "hmmm" at her stern reply.

Blackbeard was about only a few steps away now.

Standing up, she thought of a plan.

Charge as usual, then move using Canetis speed in order to trick him and strike at any clear openings.

"Alright!" She clenched her fist and grasped her spear.

"Time for round two!" She shouted as the grass ahead gave way to her incoming charge accompanied by racing, howling winds.

"ZEHAHHAHAH! YOU NEVER LEARN DO YOU?!" Blackbeard yelled maniacally as he seemed to ignore the rule of trying not to kill each other. The ground around him that was enshrouded with darkness started to produce a wall of menacing-looking shadow that seemed to be even sucking the air around it.

"Black Fotress." Blackbeard hissed cruelly.

Raystia who was charging straight ahead will no doubt be absorbed by the wall but with a sudden, quick, inconceivable kick that was too fast to be witnessed by the naked eye, she seemed to have vanished from Blackbeard's line of sight.

"Wait what, where'd she go?" Blackbeard looked around frantically.

Then with a sudden, sharp boom, with no warning except for a tiny, brief flash of blue, an end of a spear struck the side of Blackbeard's face.

"Khu..ghaaa!" Overwhelmed by the surprise attack, he stumbled to his knees.

"Zehahhahah, not bad, not bad, looks like I underestimated you." He looked at the direction of the attack and was taken aback. Getting his wounds sucked away by his ability sure was convenient. But how could be she that far away?

Raystia was standing at least a hundred feet away from Blackbeard. Charging towards him, hitting and evading away so as not to be affected by his pool of darkness.

The time it took for all that to happen: half of a second.

Such was the power of the Canetis speed.

But it has some disadvantages to it. For one, the user will get drained of energy quite significantly. So it taxes on their stamina.

Raystia squinted her eyes and tried to get her breathing under control. Even for someone as experienced as her, she can pull out this signature move for only a few number of times. But if the enemy is someone with endless stamina and recovery, then that will be quite a predicament.

Just then, a shadow appeared out of the forest and into the meadow.

"Haaahh, it's been quite some time I had received guests. Yes, yes, a loooonnng time indeed."

The source of this languid voice was an old man dressed poorly in rags.

The reaction that came from both Blackbeard and Raystia was of bafflement and shock.

Where'd he appear from? And how?

Those questions invaded Raystia's mind in the split second that followed.

"Who the hell are you, bastard?" Blackbeard was clearly irritated at the man for interrupting his fight.

"W-well, I'm uh...who am I again?" The lanky old man with a tattered brown shirt and ripped leather pants said mutteringly as he scratched his head vigorously.

"Ah, that's right, it's me Lagudov Dom."


	6. Chapter 5: Lagudov Dom

Here's a little basckstory of Lagudov Dom:

He used to be a well-known thief in a common village named Russa located somewhere in North Blue. One day he accidentally steals some treasures that belonged to an infamous pirate named Vindy. The pirate gave him two options: work under for the rest of his life or have a big rock tied to him and be thrown off a gangplank. After desperately begging the captain to spare his life and promising to work under him, he soon became a pirate.

His adventures in the Grand Line were nothing extraordinary. That was until he came upona fruit that looked just like myths and rumors claimed. Lagudov ate it without giving much thought. His fellow crewmates were surprised by his sudden inability to swim. After that, the captain confirmed he had eaten a devil fruit. He did not realised his powers until it was too late.

One unfortunate day, a Navy troop ambushed them on a land they were not really familiar with. Vindy managed to slaughter most of them single-handedly. However, that was not enough for his crew to be safe. The leader of the troop, Captain Smoker managed to kill most of the crew members, making a bloody, horrifying scene. Lagudov witnessed this with his very eyes. Even his captain he had come to admire seemed to approach death's door. He looked at the ground hopelessly. It was then the ground seemed to answer to his despair. The dirt started to vibrate under his hands vigorously. Then it spread across an area so much so that everyone who was still alive was having trouble standing.

"UUUAAAAAGGHHHH!" Lagudov Dom, the man who possessed the Soil-Soil fruit power had finally manifested his power out of rage.

A single sweep of his hand. A wave of soil rose threatening to flatten anyone in its path. Smoker who was wide-eyed didn't had time to react. His smoke didn't had the mass that the soil had and so he was quite powerless in the face of an unexpected danger.

Smoker retreated, swearing that he will finish Lagudov one day.

"Captain, captain!" Lagudov approached Vindy who had fallen to the ground, due to absolute shock, exhaustion and injuries.

"C-carry on the legacy of our crew. I-i am done for. Hahaha...so much for serving under me for the rest of your life." The words came out of his mouth in whispers were really hard to make out.

"Damn it. If only I had done something sooner." Lagudov said, visibly regrettably.

"Catch him!" A major commanded his subordinates angrily as the fugitive ran away from them. Dressed in a brown hood which seemed to have lost its purpose and wearing a pair of shoes which looked very ordinary, the man ran, or more accurately, glid.

The ground seemed to carry him along, far and away from his pursuers.

Being chased for the past 2 years, Lagudov was well used to this game of cat and mouse.

He didn't join any pirate group as he felt that no one would replace his previous crew. All alone, hitch-hiking ships or just stealing them away for transport, what a mess of a life.

He also discovered that he can actually make any type of soil fertile despite how barrren it is.

Thanks to this ability, whole ecosystems of life started to sprout up wherever he went.

Slowly, he started to feel tired of being chased. With no actual dream or goal except for the promise of adventure, he had sailed the Grand Line.

Soon after, he had settled in Ash Island. He then proceeded in the creation of the 'meadow'.

"Oi, oi, don't come interfering our damn fight!" Blackbeard yelled as he ran and punched Lagudov without a second thought.

Poor guy gets knocked out cold.

"Hey! What was that for?" Raystia said indignantly.

"Hmph. One should never interfere in a pirates' duel. He got what he deserved." With this, Blackbeard justified his action.

"Tch. Shall we continue then?"

"Nah, that's all for now. Ye managed to at least land a hit on me, even though that was not even half of my power. ZEHAHAHAH, yer not too bad at all."

"Dammit, still hitting somebody like that it's just..."

"Oi,oi. If ye wanna be a pirate then act like one."

"Well then, oiiii! You guys! Collect some fruits and let's go back."

Raystia squinted her eyes before noticing something. The patch of grass which are green and looked incredibly healthy suddenly started turning black and rotten. Around her, it seemed the atmosphere was gradually decaying.

She ran towards the mysterious man before her. "I'm okay, I'm okay." He hastily said as he rose, placing his hand on the ground and everything became full of life once again.

"Woah, what in the world was that!?" She exclaimed.

"It's my Soil-Soil ability, *cough*."

It seemed that Blackbeard and his gang haven't notice a thing. Catarina seemed to be in high spirits as she plucked every ripened fruit she could find.

"Wait, the reason why this place is so fertile is because of you?"

"Yes, when I came here 40 years ago, the entire island was like this, but due to my age and health, it's detoriating."

"Goodness, what can I do help. And are you sure you are okay with anyone taking those fruits?" She said this guiltily.

"*Sigh*. It's fine. Besides, it's not like I can do anything against people like them. What a life it has been really. Being pirate wasn't too bad. Minus the getting chased and hurt part."

"Woah, so you were a pirate before? Can you tell me more? I intend to be one."

At this point, Shiliew called at her to have some food but she simply waved and told them to wait.

"That old guy is weird." Augur commented.

"Eh? What's so weird about him?" Blackbeard said as he scratched his beard.

"The 'Meadow' kind of worsened temporarily when he was knocked out."

"What really?!" Blackbeard said with his mouth stuffed with food.

"He might be the reason behind this place." Shiliew commented.

"Girl, what's your name?"

"It's Raystia. Raystia Ravitas." She simply answered to the man's sudden question.

"Tell me, do you like hurting people?" He squinted his eyes.

"Uhh...no?" Raystia half-mindedly said.

"Don't join their crew." A stern expression formed on his face.

"But then, those people don't look so bad, do they?"

"Well I have heard what kind of atrocities they have committed. For someone as inexperienced like you, you should get to know a pirate crew better before joining one you know."

A face of a young man appeared on the back of his mind. One that was full of freckles, adorned with a huge smile and a big brown hat that seemed to serve almost no purpose at all. Lagudov still remembered that fellow young man with the Flame-Flame ability vividly.

"Go and find companions that you can entrust your life with, that's all I can tell you as someone who used to be a pirate.

"Someone to entrust my life with eh?" Raystia pondered upon these words carefully. Her guts were telling her that these words mattered heavily.

"Oi! Brat! We're leaving!" Catarina shouted from a distance.

Raystia looked back at the old man. Lagudov smiled and gestured towards the group to go ahead.

Raystia took a step. "I won't forget your words."


	7. Chapter 6: I changed my mind

"HAAAAAHH?!" Blackbeard formed an ugly expression on his face, so did the ones who heard Raystia's unexpected declaration.

"As I said, I changed my mind. I don't want to be part of your crew."

"Oi oi, you lasted more than ten seconds against a Yonko, even though he went easy on you. He even offered a position to you. BUT YOU ARE TURNING IT DOWN?! OI WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS YOU BRAT?! I'LL...!" Avalo screamed out in anger.

"Alright now, calm down everyone."

The head navigator Laffitte spoke from a distance.

"I saw this coming. Besides she doesn't have the necessary qualities to be part of this crew."

"Ehh, what de yer mean by that?" Blackbeard said.

"Didn't you witness it yourself, admiral? She prioritized a life above hers in the middle of a fight. Don't you think that will be burdensome in the future?"

"Hmm." Blackbeard nodded.

"True, the brat's a softie." Catarina agreed.

"Well uh... thanks for the food and stuff, I better get going then. Hahaha" Raystia said she walked towards her boat.

"Wait, before that, what's yer dream?" Blackbeard said, strangely putting on a serious expression.

"Dream? Well, I don't know. Hmmm... The closest thing I have is something of an objective." Raystia said, scratching her head.

"I see, but remember this, if you were to get in my way in the future, I won't show any mercy you brat."

"Jeez, at least remember my name." She whispered to herself.

"Waaaahhh, you're leaving already?" A voice came from afar.

"That's right Wolf-san. I'm leaving." Raystia said while cupping her hands on her mouth so that her voice will reach the giant.

"Awww so ssssooooooonnn." The mighty giant complained.

During the feast previously, Raystia played quite a lot with Sanjuan Wolf. Running across his shoulders, getting a bird's eye view from his head, amongst other shenanigans.

"Hehehe, maybe we might cross paths someday in the future." Raystia waved at the mighty giant.

"Well then, I better get going." She looked at the indignant faces before her, there was just no way she could be part of them she thought.

"Ah. Wait." A familiar monotone voice with a slight hint of emotion called out to her.

"You don't happen to have a log pose do you?" Laffite raised an eyebrow.

"Umm... what's that?" Raya said, clearly unfamiliar with the term that was brought up.

"*Sighs* Here's a new world log pose, this is an instrument which shows you which island to go to and not to go."

In his hand, sat a neat, sophisticated wristwatch. Instead of a watch dial, there was a base made of wood. On it, there were five orbs each housing a suspended magnetic needle. Each needle turned in a unique pattern, three were spinning nonstop, one was turning slightly and the last one was stationary.

"See those three needles moving like crazy? That means the respective islands they are pointing to are very peculiar, dangerous or have something insane going on."

He maintained his usual expression during his explanation.

"If you are feeling adventurous, go and visit them if you want, though it will be very risky."

"I see, I see. So these three show where the parties are going on right? While this one shows where the boring stuff is doesn't it?"

"Hmm...as long as you understand it's fine."

Things like risks, death, and all the doom and gloom don't really mean anything to someone like Raystia. Well, there were some that had quite the impact on her and her life.

"Well then, I should get going then. Thanks for the gift." Raystia said as she straps the instrument in her left wrist.

"Don't get mistaken, that's just for insurance." Laffitte winks as he said this with an unsuspecting smile.

"Uh...okay then."

After checking that her belongings were not missing and hauling upon her shoulder a big bag full of food, she gave a final wave to the Blackbeard crew.

"Don't get killed ye 'ear me?!" Blackbeard yelled.

"I won't!" She replied.

With just one hand she threw her precious boat over the edge. Considering the fact that the boat is around a ton in weight thanks to the special wood it was made of, that was some strength.

She leaped on to her boat and turns towards the huge Blackbeard ship to her left.

"Boy, it's been quite fun." She mutters to herself. After that, she settled her things in the boat and prepared the sail.

That particular day had good conditions to sail which meant that it was perfect for Raystia to continue on her journey.

"Mom, Dad, I'm not going to let you down, I'll be keeping our promise." And with that, Raystia took one last look at the Blackbeard fleet before facing the vast, beautiful, blue ocean once again.


	8. Chapter 7: Hunting gone bad

Raystia did one of the things she loved as a child: hunting.

Sea kings were a favourite of hers. She especially loved exploring new species of sea kings.

Aim, throw and repeat until one of the poor sea kings fell victim to her spear. Despite the humongous weight of these creatures, she managed to pull them to her boat. Then she prepares to cook them and have all that meat to herself.

You're probably wondering: "how the hell do you cook a giant fish in the middle of the sea?".

Well, read ahead.

Raystia divided the meat of a sea King professionally. She took about a minute to separate the entire edible meat from the body. After which, she drained away the blood in the seawater. This also means that the flesh is filled with salt.

She threw away the rest of the carcass while putting the meat in a big net.

From her bag, she pulled out long sharpened sticks which she places on the edges of her boat. Now, these sticks are special, they're Goldenwood which means that they don't catch fire like any other wood.

From the net, she pulled out the meat and pierced them onto the sticks and takes out her spear. Right now it was in its compact form and Raystia pushes a button which revealed a part of the blade. With another knife on the other hand, she scratches the blades together creating a spark.

"C'mon, light up and become delicious food for my tummy." She muttered right before the meat catches fire.

With wide eager eyes and a growling stomach Raystia watches as the meat turned into darker shades of brown.

One of the things she loves to do while waiting is exercise. Doing push ups on her hands is one of them and she's pretty good at it too. In fact she's so into making her body well developed with muscle that she often at times air sits for hours on end.

After a while, Raystia's time to eat has come yet again. She pulled out the cooked flesh from the stick and whipped it in the air, extinguishing the fire. With a satisfied expression, she sat down on a ledge eating her 4th meal of the day.

"Mmmm, the sea kings here are just so tasty." She said with a smile that extended ear to ear.

Raystia was lost in her thoughts fantasizing about the wonderful delicacies that awaited her all over the world.

However, for this story to progress and to have a little action, our dear heroine shall not mercifully be left alone.

Raystia was oblivious to the growing shadow that loomed behind her. Specifically, a shadow of a ship.

Before she knew it the shadow had reached her.

"Hey, who turned off the lights, I was eating!" She said as she turned to see who was responsible for ruining her precious meal time.

What greeted her however was a giant net that was hurled upon her.

"Wha-hey!, What in the name of Barduk is this!?" Raystia exclaims in panic. The net did not seemed ordinary as the ends attached immediately and no matter how hard she tugged, it didn't come off.

Well, what concerned Raystia more than anything was that the meat fell off her hands and she was about to burst in anger thanks to that.

She turns toward the ship and looks at the perpetrators.

"HAHAHAHA, captain! I got her! I got her!" A young man who was shorter than average cries out in glee. "GAHHAHAH! Well done Vicky, you finally made me proud!" A rather old man replied happily with a raspy voice. Behind them, there were a group people who helped Vicky lift the net carrying the unfortunate Raystia who had a hint of victory in their expressions.

"What the heck! Who're you criminals? What're you doing to me?" Raystia screamed in agony as she tried to break free from the net without any success.

"Captain its even a fine girl!" A middle-aged man with a missing arm shouted.

"Gahhaahaha! What a day it is today! More than 5 victims in a day! Today my dearest citizens we shall celebrate!"

The fact that there were more victims caught Raystia's attention.

As she was brought closer to the ship, she furrowed her brows and gave the captain a really hostile glare.

"Let go of me at once you coconut head!" She snapped.

"Hmmmm, what interesting features you have, and some attitude too." The captain commented as he eyed her like inspecting a fine specimen in a museum.

"Wait till I get my hands on you!" Raystia said while attempting to tear away the net.

Surprisingly, the sturdy metal-like material gave way to her strength and started to tear. The people surrounding her were shocked. The one who went by the name Vicky swiftly injected a syringe into her arm.

Raystia attempted to fight back but by the second the syringe was empty, she was enshrouded in darkness.


End file.
